Telegram-herald., 1887-07-24


tbs q 1aiAt Elg lAna as / write
iie sees kts serxaat 70 the $50.
here hsre - @4s 80 1
sayla Vus sa~st - ~ H.e - nxster
e yosE sse& - b4gssS Al.ea-
Then there vas another st4Rz2 that
was ssfs 41-eg4Bg laaees.
Ana a. sae ssl.s~a asswh she sfreet
THe tf tBes aele A-tc4itb.
Aua every to- i9es ssesaet y say.
hsp--8safted tszrb - Ahsa.
know the old >oag would not attuas
vel 10 5 pAfioF organ. aad / uoubf II
yoa eoHid plsy it oB 4 gTaad pisao-
Bat there VA. pafhos 81 the thing
that stirred nay yoat.ful soal 70 lEs
depths.
Blae-eyed spring began 20 grow
plump. and lieA.iy Developed intV the
mafns sr charms ~ summer summer.
with the dF0ns II the bunb.e-beel 81
noon. and lazy Lawrence dancing On
the worm fences. Summer time. sweet
summer time. The peaches ripened
and reddeusd. and the corn silks be-
gan 70 appear. Doe said Il the tTst
silk YOU saw was a red one YOU would
be healthy and lucky the balance Of
the year. The first one be SAW that
summer WAS a red one.
And. .. the signs and sayings he
taught us He told Us that II We saw
the new moon in clear sky Il Was
lucky. He told us If we killed a toad
our best cow would die. lie told rs
that the knots in Old Beautys mane
when we went 10 feed her in the morn
ing-Old Beauty Was our horse-were
caused BY the witches who rode her
the night before. and used these knots
for slirrnps Then he said when old
Domiuicker. my fayorlte hen, took
spell Of Growing that
~Whis'lin women an crokin hens
is apt 10 come TO some bad end.
Sure enough, blue darter hawk
killed old Dominicker the very next
Sunday.
Doe began 10 be stout and strong
now. He looked on the faded jacket
and little breeches he wore when he
first came TO our house in a sort of
reminisoently plying way. for his
arms had grown more muscular, and
his short legs had grown stouter, and
Doc began TO be right good-looking
boy, after all.
Autumn came with her sad eyes and
Sobbing winds Autumn had deeper
significance than ever before, for there
were portentous tidings waited from
afar on every breeze that wandered
through the heavens. A big white
comet blazed in the SKY, and Doe said
that meant war. Doc was a respecta-
ble-looking lad. indeed, now. He was
IL wears old. but few would have be-
| lieved it, His eyes still had that far
away expression in them. He was
older than his years.
That was winter long to be re-
membered. Gray uniforms were seen
at the last yearly meeting, held in No
vember, and the preachers at that
meeting spoke words that sounded
harshlv in our untutored ears. Young
women hummed warlike airs, and were
eager to catch the latest refrain.
I remember how the crimson deep
ened on Cousin Sues brown cheek
when she ratified off:
Huzzal Huzza for the bonnie blue flag so
dear
Huzza for the sword and plume that South
ern soldiers wear
AT the first frolic the fiddler wore
red feather in his hat and aplsyed
Dixie"
Men talked and women sang, and
the warm blood ran riot in the South
ern veins. ''On to war" 20. Johnnie,
aire you boun' to be a soldier?'
Your waist. it IS too slender,
| Your hands, they are too small,
And your cheeks too red and rosy,
To face cannon ball
| And sing O-aT0 sing o.
Sure you will, my dearl
One wintry night the northern sky
burst into a deep crimson, and we
| knew that the supernatural flame of
aurora borealis was burning on the
brow Of heaven. Doc said that was
the sign Of war. Everything was the
sign of war We had noticed the omi-
nous Nv" on the back of the locusts in
the early autumn. Captain Jack
Rainey had muster every week, and
the tramp, tramp, tramp of gathering
squadTons shattered the slumberous
depths of the barrcns,
| knew that Doe had met Lucy Pax
ton at the frolic, and knew that he
had followed her every movement with
a fascinated gaze She was not grown
up. but she was ''most grown, they
all said. She was Is. and the young
| men chose her for partner when they
| PLAYED .'all around the merry pole,
| and Doc sat and watched her.
| These were stirring times Men and
women shattered the fetters of con-
ventionality and grew from boys to
men and from girls to women with
marvellous rapidity.
At candy pulling Doc pulled candy
with her. The way of il was that they
| all PLAYED lonesome, and they needed
one more to be the lonesome one.
and he was induced. much against his
viii, to join. His success emboldened
him. and SO the boy and the girl pulled
candy. and both were so painfully
conscious of their own youthfuluess
that they pulled in silence.
! Lucys brother John was nearly Is.
He was dBtful boy and his mother
was'a widow. He worked for her and
for Lucy and they lived well.
Xfain spring gladdened the earth
with her spirituells beauty. But there
was not "a much boisterousness at the
annual "log-rolling' as usual In fact,
there were very few log-rollings.
I Mothers and daughters and younger
sons pulled the fallen trees together
the best they could and burned them.
Women in big sunbonnets. kept from
Topping over their eyes BY wooden
splits inserted in the crown. grasped
/ the plowhandles. while "tucking
strings girded about their waists kept
| the skirts from trailing il the dirt.
An. they we're made Of superior met
tie, these women of the barrens were.
That spring We had 10 work a great